Gig Review: Kim Richey - Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath, Birmingham. Thursday 19th February 2026

 

“Has anybody been to the Bluebird Cafe?”

“Yes,” mumbled two voices from the first row.

In a more appropriate environment, the response would have been extended to “yes we saw you” but for now the focus was enjoying another Kim Richey performance ten years on from that Nashville encounter.

Midway through the show, the name Don Henry cropped up as the co-writer for ‘Chapel Avenue’, the opening track from the most recent album EVERY NEW BEGINNING. Cue another connection with the Bluebird Cafe as he was on the same writers’ round bill in 2016. That’s enough of cafes four thousand miles away, let’s concentrate on one in Kings Heath - a cafe by day; an intimate gig venue by night.

By estimation (and personal attendance), this was Kim Richey’s fifth visit to the Kitchen Garden, beginning with a double bill with Ben Glover in 2018. Solo has been the de facto performing format up until this evening when joined by long term guitarist Jez Ashurst. With no new music to present since the last visit in 2024, it was good to get a different presentational perspective. Ashurst’s electric guitar added an extra dynamic, subtly enhancing the largely acoustic songs with some deft playing. There was a moment in the play out to ‘Those Words’ (one of Richey’s most popular songs) when the solo part was ramped up and a final twist in the encore when he finally reached for the lonely banjo waiting patiently in the guitar rack. Thus the night ended with a dose of minor twang and a hearty singalong to ‘I’m Alright.”

You don’t have to spend long in the musical company of Kim Richey to understand why she is such an accomplished songwriter in the American music scene. Her style comfortably sits in country and folk quarters with a background suggesting crossover tendencies into the pop world. She conquers the art of mixing in the optimum chorus structures and some of the melodies are utterly sublime. Themes flutter across multiple horizons from observational and nostalgic to emotional and a touch abstract. The art of storytelling is formed to a tee, no doubt the product of years of experience on songwriting circuits. 

This near-sold old Birmingham show had the usual two sets totalling an hour and half of music but in contrast to some the first was slightly longer and had more momentum. If it wasn’t for the recognised commercial need for small venues to have intervals, then this show had the feel of running right through. 

The three picks from the first half were the glorious ‘Wreck Your Wheels’ which was wonderfully expressed in the first few songs, the aforementioned ‘Chapel Avenue’ with some relatable references and the surprise gem of the last couple of years, ‘Joy Rider’. Stories were more forthcoming in the first half including the time the finished version of ‘Come Around’ was first heard in a Home Depot store, a period when Richey was in the big label ecosystem.

The quality continued as an independent artist as evidenced in the superb ‘Chasing Wild Horses’, the song that got the evening back on track after the interval. Another story explained the origin of ‘Angel’s Share’ a track off a 2013 album with its whiskey distilling theme. Coincidentally around the same time it was also the title of an independent (and very good) Scottish film.

This current extensive Kim Richey trip to the UK and Europe highlights an international touring artist still motivated to play shows many miles from home, even thirty years into a career. The positive is fans get the chance to listen to an A* singer-songwriter up close and personal. A packed Kitchen Garden jumped at the opportunity and I’m sure will do again if the touring flame continues to burn.

Nb Joining Kim Richey and Don Henry at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville in 2016 were Matraca Berg and Bill Anderson. A heavyweight of songwriters in anybody’s book.